WikiDwarf: Created page with "{{Short description|Title in Zen Buddhism}} {{Italic title}} {{about|the Japanese term|the Dragon Ball character|Master Roshi|the Saint Seiya character|Libra Dohko}} {{More citations needed|date=May 2018}} {{Zen Buddhism}} {{nihongo|'''''Rōshi'''''|老師}} (Japanese: "old teacher"; "old master"; Chinese {{zh|p=Lǎoshī}}) is a title in Zen Buddhism with different usages depending on sect and country. In Rinzai Ze..."

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Created page with "{{Short description|Title in Zen Buddhism}} {{Italic title}} {{about|the Japanese term|the Dragon Ball character|Master Roshi|the Saint Seiya character|Libra Dohko}} {{More citations needed|date=May 2018}} {{Zen Buddhism}} {{nihongo|'''''Rōshi'''''|老師}} (Japanese: "old teacher"; "old master"; Chinese {{zh|p=Lǎoshī}}) is a title in Zen Buddhism with different usages depending on sect and country. In Rinzai Ze..."

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{{Short description|Title in Zen Buddhism}}
{{Italic title}}
{{about|the Japanese term|the [[Dragon Ball]] character|Master Roshi|the [[Saint Seiya]] character|Libra Dohko}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2018}}
{{Zen Buddhism}}
{{nihongo|'''''Rōshi'''''|老師}} ([[Japanese language|Japanese]]: "old teacher"; "old master"; [[Chinese language|Chinese]] {{zh|p=Lǎoshī}}) is a title in [[Zen Buddhism]] with different usages depending on sect and country. In [[Rinzai Zen]], the term is reserved only for individuals who have received ''[[inka shōmei]]'', meaning they have completed the entire ''[[kōan]]'' curriculum; this amounts to a total of fewer than 100 people at any given time. In [[Sōtō]] Zen and [[Sanbo Kyodan]] it is used more loosely. This is especially the case in the United States and Europe, where almost any teacher who has received [[dharma transmission]] might be called rōshi, or even use it to refer to themselves, a practice unheard of in Japan.

==Etymology==
The Japanese ''rōshi'' is a translation of the more antiquated Chinese ''[[Laozi]]'' ([[Wade-Giles]]; ''Lao Tzu'') meaning 'Old Master' and connoting the archetype of a [[wise old man]]. The modern Chinese 老師/老师 (''Chinese'' {{zh|p=Lǎoshī}}) is a common word for teacher or professor without the religious or spiritual connotation of ''rōshi''. Chinese [[Chan Buddhism|Chán Buddhism]] (Zen is the Japanese transliteration of Chán) uses the semantically related title 師父/师父 or Mandarin ''[[shīfu]]'' (Cantonese "[[sifu]]), literally "master father" or "father of masters", or 師傅/师傅, literally "master teacher" or "teacher of masters"; both pronounced "shīfu" in Mandarin) as an honorific title for the highest masters, but it also may be used in respectful address of monks and nuns generally.

==Usage==
{{see also|Zen ranks and hierarchy}}

Traditionally, the term ''rōshi'' has been applied as a respectful honorific to a significantly older Zen teacher considered to have matured in wisdom and to have attained a superior understanding and expression of the [[Dharma]] (Japanese: ''mujōdō no taigen'') . Typically, a ''rōshi'' will have received [[dharma transmission]] (Jap: ''inka shōmei'') many years ago and although often the abbot or spiritual director of a monastery may in fact be too old to carry these responsibilities.{{citation needed|date=August 2012}}

Despite this historical reality, it has come in some modern Zen schools to be applied as a general title for a teacher regardless of the age of the individual who receives it. This is especially true in the United States and Europe where it appears that some confusion has arisen where the word ''rōshi'' has been conflated with the term ''[[oshō]]'', which is the generic term for a Soto Buddhist teacher who has received ''[[Zen ranks and hierarchy#Shihō|shiho]]'' and completed her or his basic training. Historically, the term ''rōshi'' will only be applied to an ''oshō'' after they have given many years of service as a teacher.

===Rinzai===
In some [[Rinzai]] organizations, a monastic is sometimes called ''rōshi'' after they have received ''[[inka shōmei]]'', meaning they have completed ''kōan'' study and received [[Dharma transmission]] from their master;
{{quote|In Rinzai Zen, it is relatively easy to say who is a roshi and who is not. Anyone who is authorized by another roshi (i.e. his teacher) is a roshi. This authorization (officially the "inka-shômei" document) is documented on a piece of paper, that is why it is also called colloquially "ichi-mai", that is "one sheet (of paper)". The transmission is totally vertical from teacher to student, no peer control is involved. That means that the Rinzai sect has no means to control who is made a roshi and who is not. In spite of that, the number of Rinzai roshis is usually less than 100 at any given time.<ref>{{citation|title=What is a Roshi?|journal=Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly|last=Wenger|first=Michael|year=2002|url=https://www.lionsroar.com/dharma-dictionary-roshi/|access-date=2018-05-20}}</ref><ref name=Antaiji10 group=web>[http://antaiji.org/english-what-does-it-take-to-become-a-full-fledged-soto-shu-priest-and-is-it-really-worth-the-whole-deal-1/?lang=en Muho Noelke, ''Part 10: What does it take to become a full-fledged Soto-shu priest and is it really worth the whole deal?'']</ref>}}

According to roshi Sokun Tsushimoto, the title of ''rōshi'' is equivalent to ''[[Zen master]]'' and ''shike'':<ref name="BD" />
{{quote|'Roshi' is the title compatible with the most formal title ‘Shike’ who got officially authorized as a Dharma successor by authentic master.<ref name="BD">[http://boeddhistischdagblad.nl/rients-ritskes-op-beschuldiging-raksu-formeel-uitgereikt-als-bewijs-van-een-competent-zenleader/ Boeddhistisch Dagblad, 17 april 2013, ''Rients Ritskes op beschuldiging: ‘Raksu formeel uitgereikt als bewijs van competent zenleiderschap’''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420011852/http://boeddhistischdagblad.nl/rients-ritskes-op-beschuldiging-raksu-formeel-uitgereikt-als-bewijs-van-een-competent-zenleader/ |date=20 April 2013 }}</ref><ref>For more information on Sokun Tsushimoto, see [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20090802x1.html The Japan Times online: Caring for body and soul. Interview with Sokun Tsushimoto]</ref>}}

===Sōtō===
In the [[Sōtō]] organization, a person is sometimes called ''rōshi'' after they have received the title of ''shike'', but this is by no means standard practice:
{{quote|There are about 50 or so of these in Soto (the Rinzai roshis can also be addressed as "shike") [...] [T]here is a kind of committee, called the "shike-kai", consisting of all Japanese Soto shike. There is no foreign shike, as far as I know. The shike-kai can appoint anyone as a shike whom they consider their equal, i.e. who has done genuine training and study, cultivated himself and reached whatever understanding that might be considered enlightened enough to match the enlightenment of the other shike. So shike appointment can be called horizontal in a way.<ref name=Antaiji10 group=web />}}

===Western Zen===
Many Zen communities in the [[United States]] confer the honorific title of ''rōshi'' to their teachers as a regular title, in deference to perceived Japanese Zen tradition. In most western instances it is used synonymously with the term [[Zen master]], which has a quite specific meaning in Japan, namely the select group of persons who are qualified to supervise the headtemples and monk training halls.<ref name=Antaiji10 group=web />{{sfn|Bodiford|2008|p=276}}

In the west, Rinzai and Soto-uses of the term have been mixed:
{{quote|Rinzai Zen came first to the West, so a roshi was understood as someone who was a Zen master with certain credentials. With the introduction of Soto, the emphasis on personal relationship was grafted on, making a complex term that merged the official and legal with the personal and affectionate. To complicate matters further, the Diamond Sangha, the Los Angeles Zen Center and the Rochester Zen Center lineages have combined elements of both modern-day Soto and Rinzai Zen. It’s no wonder there is ambiguity and diversity in the usage of roshi in the West.<ref>[http://archive.thebuddhadharma.com/issues/2002/winter/dictionary-roshi_winter02.htm Buddhadharma Dictionary: Roshi] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204133920/http://archive.thebuddhadharma.com/issues/2002/winter/dictionary-roshi_winter02.htm |date=2012-12-04 }}</ref>}}

In the [[Sanbo Kyodan]], a lay organization that combines Soto and Rinzai elements, a person is called ''rōshi'' when they have received ''inka'', indicating they have passed the ''kōan'' curriculum and received Dharma transmission.

==Criticism==
The use of the term ''rōshi'' in the U.S. and Europe has at times led to confusion and controversy.<ref>Ogata, 37</ref><ref>Seager, 107</ref><ref>Katagiri, 184</ref><ref>Gard, 193</ref><ref group=web>[https://antaiji.org/en/english-what-does-it-take-to-become-a-full-fledged-soto-shu-priest-and-is-it-really-worth-the-whole-deal-1/english-what-does-it-take-to-become-a-full-fledged-soto-shu-priest-and-is-it-really-worth-the-whole-deal-part-2-ten-points-to-keep-in-mind-about-dharma-transmission/ Muho Noelke, ''Ten points to keep in mind about dharma transmission'']</ref> Stuart Lachs has argued that Zen institutions in the West have often attributed a mythic status to the title ''rōshi'' with harmful consequences.<ref group=web>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120316191209/http://www.mandala.hr/5/lachs3.html ''Richard Baker and the Myth of the Zen Roshi'' by Stuart Lachs, 2002]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Dharma transmission]]
* [[Oshō]]
* [[Sensei]]
* [[Zen master]]
* [[Zen ranks and hierarchy]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Web references==
{{reflist|group=web}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Citation | last =Bodiford | first =William M. | year =2008 | title =Dharma Transmission in Theory and Practice. In: Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Buddhist Theory in Practice | publisher =Oxford University Press | url =https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/Bodiford-transmission-ZenRitual.pdf}}
*{{cite book| last =Gard| first =Richard A.| title =Buddhism| publisher =Gardners Books| year =2007| isbn = 978-0-548-07730-6| oclc =176932841}}
*{{cite book| last =Katagiri| first =Dainin| author-link =Dainin Katagiri| title =Returning to Silence: Zen Practice in Daily Life| publisher =Shambhala Publications| year =1988| isbn = 0-87773-431-3| oclc =16982186}}
*{{cite book| last =Ogata| first =Sohaku| title =Zen for the West| publisher =Greenwood Press| year =1975| url =https://archive.org/details/zenforwestforbud0000ogat| isbn =0-8371-6583-0| url-access =registration}}
*{{cite book| last =Seager| first =Richard Hughes| title =Buddhism In America| publisher =Columbia University Press| year =1999| isbn = 0-231-10868-0| oclc =40481142}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121204133920/http://archive.thebuddhadharma.com/issues/2002/winter/dictionary-roshi_winter02.htm Buddhadharma, Dharma Dictionary, ''Roshi'']

{{Buddhism topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roshi}}
[[Category:Japanese Buddhist titles]]
[[Category:Zen]]

Rōshi - Revision history